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Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
5 Takeaways from the 2026 NACUBO Annual Meeting
If you've already read Inside Higher Ed's recap of the NACUBO Annual Meeting (held in Anaheim from July 18-21), "A Call to Meet the Moment at NACUBO,” you know federal policy uncertainty dominated...
Featured
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Philanthropy and Fundraising: Trends & Leadership Insights
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Investment Strategy | Articles
Mind the Gap: The Strategic Risk of Skipping a Vintage in Private Equity
Private equity (inclusive of buyouts, growth equity, and venture capital) remains a compelling long-term asset class, but recent periods of muted distributions and below-average returns have created...
Perspectives | Press Releases
FY25 NACUBO-Commonfund Study Released
U.S. Higher Education Endowments Report Stable Returns, Increase Spending to $33.4 Billion in FY25 The NACUBO-Commonfund Study of 657 colleges and universities reports a 10-year average return of...
Investment Strategy | Videos
Understanding the Private Equity Secondaries Market
This Commonfund Institute Online video explores the evolving landscape of the private equity secondaries market, focusing on both Limited Partner (LP)- and General Partner (GP)-led transactions.
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Featured
Governance and Policy | Insights Blog
Endowment Purpose and UPMIFA: What Nonprofit Boards Must Ask
Purpose | Principle I | Principles of Investment Stewardship The Question Every Endowment Fiduciary Should Be Asking For many nonprofit organizations, the endowment is the difference between... Learn More
Governance And Policy | Podcasts
Independent School Endowment Insights
Join hosts George Suttles, Executive Director, and Amanda Novello, Sr. Policy and Research Analyst, in this episode of "Espresso Chats," a series by the Commonfund Institute serving up strong, short...
educational-endowments
Perspectives | Insights Blog
Forum 2026 Key Statistics [Infographic]
Commonfund recently hosted its 28th annual Commonfund Forum, February 25th-28th, in Hollywood, Florida. The event brought together institutional investors to engage in a three-day conference to...
Market Commentary | Private Equity Insights
The Iran War and the Gulf Energy Crisis
The Iran War and the gulf energy crisis are an (un)friendly reminder that diversification still matters. Early returns on the U.S. and Israel-led war with Iran in the Middle East offer an important...
educational-endowments
Perspectives | Press Releases
Institutional Investors Lower 2026 Return Expectations Amid Geopolitical Risk
Nearly half of institutional investors surveyed expect the S&P 500 Index to have lower returns in 2026, compared to the 10-year average annualized return. Private equity and public equities cited as...
Market Commentary | Insights Blog
Will Oil Supply Shocks Impact Costs to Institutions?
The recent attacks in the Middle East have already triggered one of the most severe oil market disruptions in decades, sending shockwaves through global energy supply chains. Joint U.S. and Israeli...
educational-endowments
Perspectives | Insights Blog
Navigate Now: Takeaways from Commonfund Forum 2026
Commonfund Forum 2026, held in Hollywood, FL, brought together registrants from some 263 institutions with more than $238 billion in assets representing 38 states, 2 territories, and 3 foreign...
educational-endowments
Perspectives | Insights Blog
Study of Endowments - Key Highlights [Infographic] 2025
For fiscal year 2025, U.S. higher education endowments reported an average return (net of fees) on their endowment assets of 10.9 percent. In this infographic, we report the key highlights from the...
Market Commentary | Podcasts
Evolving Landscape of Private Credit
Episode 9 In the latest episode of Commonfund OCIO Point of View, Julia Mord and Vincent Kravec discuss the evolving landscape of private credit, highlighted by its recent media attention and...
educational-endowments
Perspectives | Press Releases
Commonfund Study of Independent Schools Released for FY2025
Gains Amid Uncertainty: Independent Schools Report 11.5% Return on Endowment Assets for FY2025; 10-Year average returns rise to 7.7% New Gifts to Endowments Rebound, Use of OCIO Increased Norwalk,...
Governance And Policy | Podcasts
Trends and Challenges in Higher Education
Join hosts George Suttles, Executive Director, and Amanda Novello, Sr. Policy and Research Analyst, in this episode of "Espresso Chats," a series by the Commonfund Institute serving up strong, short...
Market Commentary | Insights Blog
Fed Watching: How Will Policy Evolve Under Kevin Warsh as Chair?
President Donald Trump announced late‑January that, pending confirmation, Kevin Warsh would assume the position of Federal Reserve Chairman, succeeding current Chairman Jerome Powell whose tenure...
Investment Strategy | Private Equity Insights
What Factors Influence Pricing in the LP-led Secondaries Market?
In private equity limited partners (LP)-led secondaries, one of the most common questions is, “what does pricing look like?” to which, a typical response might be, “it depends.” That response, while...
Mission-Aligned Investing for Endowments & Foundations